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The new service, called Google Shopping Express, will initially provide same-day delivery of food and other products bought online by a small group of consumers in San Francisco and suburbs located south of the city.

If the pilot program goes well, Google says it will expand delivery service to other markets.

The delivery service announced Thursday is part of Google's effort to increase people's reliance on the Internet so it will have more opportunities to show online ads, which generate most of its revenue.

Besides local merchants, major retailers such as
Target and
Walgreen are enlisting in Google's delivery service.

Amazon to buy Goodreads

Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer that got its start in bookselling, is agreeing to buy book recommendations site Goodreads.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon said Thursday that it “shares a passion for reinventing reading,” with Goodreads. In addition to recommending books to read based on what other books people have liked, Goodreads also serves as a social network for bookworms. It has 16 million members.

The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Seattle-based Amazon.com says Goodreads headquarters will remain in San Francisco.

Ebay 2015 sales forecast

EBay expects its revenue and profit to keep heading higher in the coming years as its e-commerce business and fast-growing PayPal payments service continues to expand.

EBay said Thursday that it expects revenue to reach $21.5 billion to $23.5 billion in 2015, up from $14.1 billion in 2012. Analysts are expecting $21.4 billion, according to FactSet. The company expects adjusted earnings per share to grow by 15 percent to 19 percent from 2012 to 2015.

The company says PayPal revenue will hit $9.5 billion to $10.5 billion in 2015.

Cisco cutting

500 jobs

Cisco Systems is cutting 500 jobs, or less than 1 percent of its total workforce, as the company focuses on businesses that are growing.

With the latest cuts, Cisco will have eliminated 8,300 jobs over the past two years as it has exited consumer businesses while expanding in corporate software and technology services.

Mortgage rates tick up

Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages edged up this week but remained near historic lows. Freddie Mac said the average rate for the 30-year fixed loan rose to 3.57 percent from 3.54 percent last week. That's near the 3.31 percent reached in November, which was the lowest on record dating to 1971. The average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage increased last week to 2.76 percent from 2.72 percent last week.

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